Men - Free Program

Marc Andre Craig CAN - icey blue satin shirt navy pants / music Jumpin Jack, Summertime
Some sultry opening moves that have the crowd oooohhhhing, and now there’s some light clapping along / 3a rotated low landing with free foot down fast / 2a / 3f fell / 3z hand down / 3l / fly forward sit with good fly & tuck - nice spin pos & centered / back sit with variations / music switches to summertime and some chor and playing to the judges / a few wolf whistles / strt ftwrk as music picks up and crowd starts clapping - nice strt ftwrk seq - reight with music / watching Brian O is priceless during the footwork seq / 3s / spread eagle 3f / Arabians into flycam sit that changes with music / O ftwrk has nice level changes and expresses the music really well / 3t / back sam starts the combo spin that has some neat upright leg pos / and a sliding ending that he slipped a bit on / He has evolved so much over the last couple of years from being just a jumper / T 51.09 C 57.90 ded 2.0 tot 106.99 gr tot 168.32 currently 1st overall (of course)

Geoffry Varner USA - red shirt with silver trim / Concerto de Aranjuez / 3z / big 2a (3 was planned) / 3l on quite a lean landed with turns out but stayed on one foot / sit ch sit with variations good speed sit pos could be a little lower but really not bad at all / strt ftwrk is ok - works with music - he could express it a bit better / music change to very slow familiar / 3f turn out on one foot 2l l/ back cam sit with variations ch sit - quite good / some chor / 2s / 3z hard fall on his side / flyback sit is good / music picks up again / 3f rotated but landing leg collapsed under him / O ftwrk is ok / 2a landed pitched forward / coming around after the O ftwrk he kind of looked a bit discouraged / combo spin to end / not the skate he wanted, but I’m pretty sure it’s his first international competiton as a senior and I know he was nervous as can be / T 42.12 C 51.30 ded 2.00 tot 91.42 gr tot 148.57 currently 2nd overall

Jamal Othman SWI - black with turquoise & gold iridescence / music Lunatico / 3z2t / 2a turns 2t / O ftwrk as music picks up and crowd is clapping - expresses the music ok - his arms flail to much for me / 3f / upright spin with great body pos variations - didn’t last long enough for me / turns into 3l / some chor the is right with music / back sit to his catchfoot variation / back spiral into 3f2t2t / 3z just hung onto landing / 3s2t / combo spin with neat camel variations / 2a / diag steps in character of music / deathdrop is quite big and twisted variations on sit ending in headless / that was the best long programs I’ve seen him skate / T 54.82 C 56.10 tot 110.92 new PB gr tot 167.22 currently 2nd overall

Sergei Voronov RUS - dark navy blue - music is Pearl Harbour soundtrack / 3f2t / 3a leaning landing & stayed on one foot with turnout - did well to do that 2t / 3t / O ftwrk is ok / flysit is good / some chor as the music has softened & mellowed / spread eagles are lovely / 1a 2t / 3l / fly forward sit has great fly & tuck some nice upright variations / camel spin is ok - extension is quite good but spin is slow / Urmanov said something to him just before he started the strt ftwrk / ftwrk was fairly good / 2a / 3s / he’s trying to be expressive but needs to work on it more / 3t / combo spin to end the program / T 53.08 C 54.30 tot 107.38 Gr tot 165.73 currently 4th overall

Shawn Sawyer CAN Moments in Love / black with gold glitter on top & royal blue insets on sides / back camel with layout starts a combo spin - great pos / 3f stepout and couldn’t get the 2nd jump off / some chor & playing to the judges / 3a 2ft probably rotated / O ftwrk is just great with chor right to the music bit of a trip near the beginning / 2a / buttfly upright spin with change of foot and his side split / flysit is good / 3z / split jump 3l 3l not sure if a combo or seq / his trademark spiral into 3s 2l2l / strt ftwrk as music changes and crowd is clapping - ftwrk is right with music and is fun / 3f / 2a / back camel with his variation sit flyover sit side split upright combo spin / closing pose right in front of the judges / T 63.32 C 64.60 tot 128.42 new PB gr tot 195.17 currently 2nd overall

Daisuke Takahashi JPN - Phantom - black with deep V in front edged in white satin / music starts out with gentle paino for a second then fast violin / bailed on 4t / he is fasta / 3a step out / music of the night and some expressive chor / 3a2t / layback spin is lovely / music change and crashy and O ftwrk is fast & flowing & expressive / back samel with layover to sit upright / 3f2t bit quick down with the free foot on the toe but still clean I think / 3z2t2l / lost edge going into loop and fell / 3s / 2f fell - lost focus I think / there’s some really good chor in the program but also IMO lots of empty spots as well with just stroking / strt ftwrk is great / combo spin ending in headless / T 59.91 C 71.50 ded 2.0 tot 129.41 gr tot 208.21 currently 2nd overall

How the HELL does Stephane end up with TES in the 70's when he botched both quads (essentially downgrading 2 quads into triple toe loops) and landed only 4 other clean triples. Is it the 2X World Champ reputation?

Oops, he's way off his total PB (SP + LP) this time. I think he can score in the 280's on an above average day.

Vaughn Chipeur CAN - Phantom - white shirt with silver & black design over one shoulder black pants / what luck to be skating right after Daisuke and skating to the same music / as the crowd chuckles as the music starts / not the same cuts / beautiful 3z - high & floaty / 3a step out on low landing but rotated / sit ch sit great pos if a little slow / music of the night and some soft chor / 3l / 3t / huge death drop / 2f bit awkward on landing / some chor / 2a / spin with some good leg variations / O ftwrk is ok / 3s / strt ftwrk is bulding with music - well done / 3z landed forward hands down / combo spin - camel pos are a bit weak - sit are very good / music ended really abruptly and I don’t remember that from practise / T 57.12 C 59.70 tot 116.82 gr tot 184.06 currently 4th overall

Tomas Verner CZE - black velvet with silver on one shoulder and silver glitter design flowing from the other / 4t rotated step out / 3f2t / 3z / 3s / not much chor up til now but we get some here / 3z leaning fell / flyforward sit with big fly & tuck - spin was good but kind of died at the end / music change and some soft flowing chor / bailed on 3a attempt and signled / 3l / back combo spin to front - good pos & speed / O ftwrk is fairly expressive of the music / back sit ch sit / str tftwrk set up and into it as music becomes very driving and chor is dynamic and matches the music uses who body - very morozov style / 3f / back cam sit open leg ch sit open leg to end / T 61.55 C 60.30 tot 120.85 ded 1.00 gr tot 192.15 currently 4th overall

Yannick Ponsero FRA Black with bolero effect trimmed in red / Da Vinci Code / 3a step out / 4t landed square on 2 feet - bailed sort of after ? revs / 2a / cam ch cam spin with variations of pos / 3a2t / he tends to land his jumps very heavy / O ftwrk is quite expressive if a bit slow / 3f hop 3s - the hop almost looked like it was to cover up a not great landing - but was at far end of rink so I’m not really sure / ? spin that I didn’t really see / 3l bad lean fell / flysit is centered with good pos / 2z 2t / strt line steps to super-dramatic music and the steps work great / there’s some really big gaps in chor and most of the time there seems to be little connection to the music / 2a / sit spin to end / T 59.21 C 62.20 ded 1.0 tot 120.41 gr tot 189.46 currently 5th

Johnny Weir USA Music Child of Nazareth dark grey velour pants tunic top white at shoulders shading to lighter greg with turquoise sash over one shoulder and around waist / some nice chor to start / 3a hand down very tight landing / 3t / 3f / spin with pancake variation / music picks up for O ftwrk looks like a bit of balance check near start - rest is good & expresses music / some chor / 2l / 1a / butterfly back sit with his great pos / 3a is very nice / 2f2t / 3? Think look that he fell out of / ? spin that was only about 3 revs total / strt ftwrk is ok / ver nice camel start is final combo spin with great sit variations into open leg variation / T 50.32 C 72.10 tot 122.42 gr tot 198.70 currently 3rd overall /